Ladies bike or small men's bike?

trish81

As the title suggests should I get a ladies bike or small men's? I'm 5'6" and I'm not exactly a lightweight lady to put it politely! I have improving fitness levels and I'm getting in to riding on trails. Rode a red route at Cannock Chase recently, great fun but my rockrider 5.1 was not coping well, which is to be expected! nice enough on towpaths but not really designed for heavy use! In fact I did fear for my life once or twice! I'd say my budget is about £400 and happy to buy second hand if I can get a good deal!

supersonic

Whatever fits really! Best bet is to visit a few shops and simply sit on them.

Levi_501

My wife rides a mans frame, there are more about, easier to sell on...

Woodmonkey

My mrs has a "w" spec Carrera, the only difference I can see is narrower tyres and a different saddle. It's been said, but get what's comfortable.

mattshrops

The theory is women have a longer leg length as a proportion of their overall height. Therefore a women specific bike should be shorter for the same height/size.
Obv not all folks fall into the average sizing category.

So +1 for get to a bike shop and sit on some bikes.

blinddrew

My other half started on a small men's frame but it really didn't suit her at all, a women's specific frame was a much better fit but, as suggested above, get down to the bike shop and sit on a few

97th choice

http://www.thebirdwheel.com/womens-spec ... -fit-guide

Just to give credit to the actual article.

Carver_9

The best one is still to come guys!

stannie

jamesss86607 wrote:

hello everyone
welcome to this forum.Here u find all your questions and get your answers.
Most folks get on bikes while not asking an excessive amount of concerning work or however a motorbike with a straight high tube are often created for a girl. Step through bikes were the initial bikes designed for ladies over a century past. For a protracted time the bike trade has followed by merely creating mens bikes smaller or painted with girly colours. however over the last fifteen years a lot of ladies have gotten serious concerning riding and firms area unit creating seriously impressive bikes that create riding lighter and competitive.
You wouldn’t obtain mens pants – why obtain a motorbike created for a man? no matter form of bicycle you’re into, obtaining the proper women’s bike size and adjusting it to suit your physique is essential to the comfort and handling you’ll expertise.
Basic physiology and impact on women’s bikes
One straightforward example of however this plays into comfort for a girl riding a motorbike is that the saddle. Wider hips mean larger sit bones. this needs a wider saddle on a women’s bike than generally equipped on a man’s bike. associate illustration of this can be the saddle sizes offered by specialised. they have an inclination to supply saddles in 2 sizes for men and girls. Men get saddles of 130mm and 143mm. Women’s saddles area unit 155mm and 175mm. (Of course, saddles are often simply modified, so, if you like to stay together with your men’s bike you'll wish to contemplate commutation the saddle).
Step-Through Frame Bikes/Hybrids
Bike fitting is a smaller amount of a difficulty for step-through frame bikes as a result of there's either no high tube or, within the case of a Mixte frame, the tube is heavily slanted. because the riding position on these bikes is upright the most effective work is set by the reach to the handlebars. the top tube on a step through frame tends to be quite long thus to keep up associate upright riding position.
When it involves Mixte frames, the everyday frame has road bike pure mathematics. Road bike pure mathematics on such frames will
A standard androgynous road bike is made to suit a person. It may, in some circumstances, truly work a girl well however typically it’s not ideal. for instance, the extended high tube length of androgynous bikes implies that ladies typically ought to stretch to achieve the handlebars. additionally, cranks tend to be too long and handlebars too wide.
However, shorter high tubes do gift issues. On the littlest frames there's a risk of toe overlap (This is wherever your toe will hit the front wheel once you flip a motorbike at slow speeds), that no rider likes, per solon of Britain specialist frame fitting company CycleFit. To upset this, solon tells North American country, makers usually steepen the seat tube to push the front wheel additional faraway from rock bottom bracket and build a lot of clearance.
Other changes that may be created to form the right suited a women’s bike are: shorter cranks (manufacturers typically supply a spread between 165mm – 175mm), narrower handlebars (c380mm – 460mm) and shorter brake levers. A shorter bar stem (c70mm – 130mm) may also aid reach on a regular or a women’s bike.
Mountain bikes
Our own bike frame size guide is straightforward to use and suggests bike frame sizes primarily based upon your height. it's an honest place to begin if you're probing for facilitate with women’s bike filler. you wish to induce a measure tape and calculator at hand if you would like to induce a lot of subtle with bike filler.
For associate correct women’s bike filler mensuration on a road bike, get your inseam leg mensuration in centimetres and multiply it by zero.67. this can offer you a suggested frame size in centimetres.
For associate correct women’s bike filler mensuration on a all-terrain bike convert the inseam mensuration from centimetres to inches and multiply by zero.67. this provides your frame size in inches.

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2013 mercedes benz sl-class

What?
Motorbikes?

At 5'6 there should be a lot of small men's frames that could be suitable - you just need to try them for size.
Make sure you get a ladies saddle and the correct stem length and it will be much more comfortable.
At 5'4", I find small men's mountain bikes fit me well with a couple of adjustments but men's road bikes need more fettling.

flywheel88

Here's a great article on this topic: http://mtbchick.com/2013/06/30/ask-a-ch ... tain-bike/

CitizenLee

My girlfriend went for a small mens bike (Scott Voltage YZ30) and has a ladies Specialized saddle. She gets on great with it. Do try and demo a few if you can though, as we took a gamble ordering online that thankfully paid off!

The Rookie

My youngest daughter rides a Voltage YZ frame as well, my elder daughter is on a Dirty Jo Full Creme (the Scott is her old frame) both are 13 or 14", as long as the effective top tube length is right practically any frame can then have the right components fitted to suite.

scoi

I bought my Mrs a small mens Giant Revel. Swapped the seat to take the pressure off the sensitive area. Because the average lady has a shorter torso than the average man she was getting sore across the back of the shoulders so we swapped the bars for some risers. Good bike now

markhewitt1978

singletrackanne wrote:

What?
Motorbikes?

It's a spam post!